Job 3:20-26

Job Wishes He Might Die

20 "Why does he give light to one in misery and life to [those] bitter of soul,
21 who wait for death, but {it does not come}, and search [for] it more than [for] treasures,
22 who rejoice {exceedingly}, [and] they are glad when they find [the] grave?
23 [Why does he give light] to a man whose way is hidden, and God has fenced him in [all] around?
24 For my sighing comes {before} my bread, and my groanings gush forth like water
25 because the dread that I {feel} has come upon me, and what I feared befalls me.
26 I am not at ease, and I am not at peace, and I do not have rest, thus turmoil has come."

Job 3:20-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 3

In this chapter we have an account of Job's cursing the day of his birth, and the night of his conception; Job 3:1-3; first the day, to which he wishes the most extreme darkness, Job 3:4,5; then the night, to which he wishes the same and that it might be destitute of all joy, and be cursed by others as well as by himself, Job 3:6-9; The reasons follow, because it did not prevent his coming into the world, and because he died not on it, Job 3:10-12; which would, as he judged, have been an happiness to him; and this he illustrates by the still and quiet state of the dead, the company they are with, and their freedom from all trouble, oppression, and bondage, Job 3:13-19; but however, since it was otherwise with him, he desires his life might not be prolonged, and expostulates about the continuance of it, Job 3:20-23; and this by reason of his present troubles, which were many and great, and came upon him as he feared they would, and which had made him uneasy in his prosperity, Job 3:24-26.

Footnotes 11

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.